Just re-watched Lewis/Vitali..

Lewis has been claiming to be 30 something for the two decades I've followed his career.

 

Lewis doesn't drink beer.

 

Lewis wasn't too far removed from his smashing KO over Rhaman.

It was a good fight.

Vitali would improve a good bit after Lewis.

He took the fight in less than 2 weeks notice

He was up 4-2 on all three cards. Lewis was tired. The cut over the eye, may have been caused by the stitching backhand which can be seen on video below:

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtdOteT5G0Q[/url]

Lewis said he would re-match, but balked once a the WBC ordered one.

 

Just can't let this go, can you? Lewis retired after beating the **** out of Vitali, deal with it.

 

Byrd took the Vitali fight on ten days notice and beat Vitali.
But i don't know only one case when a klitschko fan used
this information.

 

Great, a brand new excuse(backhand) from the klitschko fanboys.
This can't change the truth vitali klitschko's skin is fragile.

Golota was better than a prime Bowe two times but i don't know
only one Golota ass-licker with neverending hysterical excuses
because the Golota fans accept his losses.
Klitschko brothers are the most ass-licked fighters ever.

 

1 ) We are not talking about Byrd, and Vitali was scheduled for Ruddock, so he did not prepare for Byrd either.

2 ) Lewis said several times he would take the re-match, and ran his mouth only to retire when the chips were down.

 

Humor me, who would you pick to win the re-match?

 

Funny but i think the fans of this fight prefer this "war" word.
I think this is the most overrated fight ever.
Lewis an aging overweight,glass-chinned fighter vs. a Byrd victim
skin problematic fighter.
No knockdown or power ko just two easy to hit slow fighters.
Lewis was so overweight and he moved like a stone buffoon and
vitali klitschko with his pathetic skin fought like a clumsy joke .

Otherwise i think this "big" 240+ lbs Lewis was Steward's brainchild
and sometimes poor Lewis looked total frustrated by his extreme weight.(Worst idea ever a clumsy,overweight glass-chinned guy it was Steward's creation. It was the reason of some weak Lewis performances like Akinwande,Rahman I,Mercer,V. klitschko)
I think Lewis looked better against Ruddock with his about 227 pounds bodyweight.

 

Yes this is the problem some klitschko fans ignore the circumstances of the Byrd-Vitali fight .
klitschko was a full-time pro athlete obviously he was prepared
against Byrd. Only the ring performance is important the preparation
problem isn't a cceptable thing, it's just an excuse.I used
the Byrd example because this proves some klitschko fans
don't know the objectivity at all.
And these fans don't cry when klitschko knocked out Puritty or
Charr by cuts or Solis by injury.But they can't accept the decision of the Vitali-Lewis fight. Some klitschko fans' attitude is total one-sided
and this is the reason why i used the Byrd-vitali example.

 

I think it's a close call and I don't think it would go to the cards. If Lewis fought like he did in the 6th round he would win, and if Vitali fought like he did in the 2nd round he would win. Gun to my head, I'd pick Lewis. He showed he could adapt, he showed he had heart, he should he was prepared to turn it into a dog fight, and he showed at the end, that the power of Vitali wasn't affecting him the way it was at the beginning of the fight.

Vitali showed he wasn't a quitter, but unfortunately for him, his skin couldn't seem to handle the type of punches Lewis was throwing, cause he wasn't cut once, he wasn't cut twice, he was cut three times. Seems to me this would likely happen again, although perhaps not enough to stop the fight like it did the first time. But given that there's scare tissue already there, he may have bleed easier in the rematch.

But at the end of the day, rather than criticize either fighter, why not just call it a classic street type of fight, and give props to both fighters? And acknowledge the win, while possibly lucky, was nevertheless legit.

 

We tried to strangle this thread at birth with a bit of comedy.

No offense to the OP, Brixton Bomber, whose intentions were good I'm sure.
But when Lewis-Vitali is mentioned, we know what's comin'

 

I think Vitali grew from the Lewis fight and started to gain massive confidence afterwards, In fact he was a beast in the Kirk Johnson fight. As far as Lewis not being in condition for Vitali, not true, Lewis would have never survive the punches he took early.

Prime to prime and minus the eye injury a fight between the 2 would be very interesting....Vitali liked to break guy down and take them into rd 9-10 and go in for the stop. IMO the cut forced him to push early in fear of the fight being stopped. I think Vitali would have won the rematch and prime for prime fight the later rds would have favored Vitali with a stoppage if he could get past the early rds but had he not been cut he may have continued the momentum he started.

 

Lewis wasnt motivated for Vitali the first time and wouldnt have been motivated for a rematch. He beat Vitali while he was at his worst. The only way a Lewis vs Vitali rematch woulda happened is if Vitali had won.

Lewis's interest in the sport had waned. His only remaining intent was to fight Roy Jones in a unification fight. When Roy made the decision to vacate the heavyweight division Lewis didnt have no more motivation to train

 

Vitali Klitschko WAS at his best when they met. Lewis was not.. And given the actual result I can't imagine any other outcome had this been the Lennox of 5-7 years earlier.